Coming up in September, New York’s 9/11 Memorial at the site of the former World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan will be open to the public. An iPhone app created by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum looks to be a great preview. Featuring a seven-stop walking tour of the area around the World Trade Center, images related to the events of 9/11 along with an interactive time-line of the day’s events and aftermath, the Explore 9/11 app tells an accurate, interactive story.

A seven-stop walking tour of the area around the World Trade Center, accompanied by audio and photo narration tells events of the day and its aftermath by first responders, rescue workers, volunteers, and those who lived and worked in Lower Manhattan on 9/11. While the walking tour takes place in Lower Manhattan, the tour content is accessible to users anywhere.

Images related to the events of 9/11 and their aftermath relate to wherever users happen to be in the area. Photos may be viewed in Augmented Reality-technology mode which overlays images on the camera view. All photos were contributed to the museum through 911history.org, a collection of stories, videos, and photos submitted by people who experienced 9/11 charged to remember and honor the thousands of innocent men, women, and children murdered by terrorists in the attacks of February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001.
The Explore 9 11 app also features an interactive timeline of the day’s events and aftermath including links to witness photos taken during these time blocks.

The app can operate in an offline mode for non-U.S. visitors who have disabled data roaming. In this mode, all tour content is still accessible. The app includes a map of free WiFi hotspots near the tour route for downloading “Explore” photos from the vicinity.